Collection Project Manager/Registrar Alicia Guillama on transforming an historic home one item at a time.

It can be difficult to equate words like “change” and “new” to a Richmond landmark as historic as the 1812 John Wickham House. After all, this home has been around for over 200 years – what could possibly be different?

But like any home, the 1812 John Wickham House is in a constant state of change. In fact, interpretation of the Wickham House has evolved over the decades. Most recently, the Valentine has been working to redesign the tour experience by allowing for more visitor interaction within each room. In support of that effort, the museum was focused on removing and returning several long-term loans of antique furniture and decorative arts.

In 1994, the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan loaned the Valentine 33 pieces of furniture and decorative arts for use in the 1812 Wickham House. These items spanned every size and shape, from a single candlestick to a large square piano. They were all beautiful pieces, but they no longer fit the Valentine’s interpretive vision. As Collection Project Manager/Registrar, it was my job to ensure that these museum-quality pieces made it home safely. If you think packing and moving the contents of your home would be complicated, imagine moving these antique pieces over 600 miles!

Working with Josh Aubry of Custom Art Installations, we created a packing and crating plan for each of the 33 pieces based upon their object type and respective needs. This included a creative solution for packing 24 chairs (we decided to keep them in place using seat belts) and perfecting the housing for the sensitive marble table top and piano. As a general rule, less is more when it comes to preparing objects for transport. That is why our goal was to secure the objects as safely as possible while also requiring the least amount of intervention during transit. After all was said and done, 14 crates were loaded into a tractor trailer truck that spanned half a city block.

The impact of removing these pieces was most immediately noticeable in the Wickham House Drawing Room. It was shocking to see this once overflowing space so empty. But just as new beginnings are both bitter and sweet, I can’t help but be excited about the possibilities and new objects that will help us tell the story of the home, the family and Richmond for years to come.